Wanindu, Dimuth heroics take Sri Lanka to super six in World Cup qualifiers

Sri Lanka booked their slot in the Super Six stage of the Cricket World Cup qualifying tournament after a dominant 133-run win over Ireland in their third game on Sunday.

The win sealed Sri Lanka’s spot in the super six stage. Scotland and Oman also advanced to the super six stage after finishing second and third respectively in Group B.

Earlier put into bat first Sri Lanka were in some sort of trouble when they were at 48-2 at the end of the powerplay.

Sri Lanka desperately needing a big partnership saw Dimuth Karunaratne and Sadeera Samarawickrama deliver when the duo mounted a rescue with a solid third-wicket partnership worth 168 to tilt the game back in Sri Lanka’s favour.

Opener Dimuth Karunaratne made a run-a-ball 103 and Sadeera Samarawickrama hit 82 as Sri Lanka compiled an imposing total of 325 all out off 49.5 overs.

Charith Asalanka (38) and Dhananjaya de Silva (42 not out) also chipped in as Ireland sought to limit the damage in the closing overs.

Dimuth notched up his maiden century after 12 years since he debuted.

In reply, Ireland could only manage 192 as Wanindu Hasaranga scalped another five-wicket haul. Besides that, Maheesh Theekshana also took 2/29. This was his third consecutive five-wicket haul in ODIs. With this, Hasaranga equals the world record for most consecutive five-fors in ODIs with Pakistan’s Waqar Younis.

In the post-match presentation, Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka lauded the boy’s effort especially Dimuth Karunaratne who went on to say opening batter Dimuth Karunaratne is the perfect player to lead their batting order.

“Everything is going in the right direction. We could have performed better with the bat towards the end. Perhaps the aggressive batting from myself and Wanindu didn’t yield the desired results in the latter part of the game,” said Shanaka.

He went on to say that Karunaratne is the perfect player to lead the team from the top of the batting order. Karunaratne scored 103 runs off as many balls, hitting eight boundaries in his innings against Ireland.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s batter Dimuth Karunaratne who brought up his maiden ODI century was awarded ‘Player of the Match’ for his knock of 103, which contributed to a comprehensive win for Sri Lanka by 133 runs.
In the post-match conference, Karunaratne said he wants to make it big when he gets the start.

“Not at all (On whether the chance for ODI hundred had passed him), wanted to continue for the team. That’s what I do. If I get a start, I want to go for the big one. (On the pitch) In the morning, there is something for the bowlers, but when the swing stops we can get some boundaries. I was waiting for that, the first hour was about giving the bowlers respect. I try to apply the same technique, that is what has helped me score heavily in Test cricket. Don’t try to hit them hard, just time them well,” Karunaratne said.

Sri Lanka are all set to face Scotland in their next World Cup Qualifier match on June 27 at Bulawayo.

Sri Lanka: 325 all out in 49.5 overs (Dimuth Karunaratne 103, Sadeera Samarawickrama 82; Mark Adair 4/46, Barry McCarthy 3/56) vs Ireland: 192 all out in 31 overs (Curtis Campher 39, Harry Tector 33; Wanindu Hasaranga 5/79; Maheesh Theekshana 2-29)